The Thimble Theatre comic strip characters were drawn by
several Mad artists over the years including Will Elder, Wally Wood, Bob Clarke
and Jack Rickard. However, it seems that Don Martin lived in a different
world. Martin's Popeye has a huge jaw and rather floppy feet. Olive Oyl has a really long nose and an unusual reaction to spinach. Wimpy is
looking somewhat trimmer but Bluto needs to go on a diet. While most
artists learned to draw by copying the Sunday newspaper comics, Martin drew as
if he was raised in the House of Mirrors. [JAM 11/23/2010]

Reader Neil Wahlert was especially pleased with the Teen Beat
magazine parody ("Classical Beat") by Larry Siegel and Jack Davis.
Parodies of classical music are rare for Mad. See also "Mad's Rhyming
Guide to the Orchestra" by Frank Jacobs and Don Martin in the Mad 84 "Extra"
Special. Artist Davis is an extremely versatile caricaturist but true
classical music fans will confirm that his depiction of Fritz Kreisler
(1875-1962) was not even close. See also "The Ballad of Arthur Freen" in
Don Martin Carries On.

Departments:
Mucho De Niro - Raving Bully
A Big Hand for Little Feats - If the Guiness Book of World Records Dealt with
Everyday Life
Sailor Man-Slaughter - Don Martin Looks at "Popeye"
Berg's-Eye View - The Lighter Side
Joke And Dagger - Spy vs. Spy
Oily Edition - Mad's Do-It-Yourself Mid-East Crisis Newspaper Story
Kick in the Career End - Guess Who's Going to Grow Up to Be What?
Rubbing Fault into the Wound - Who Are You Gonna Blame?
Rock of Ages - Classical Beat Magazine
To See or Not to See - William Shakespeare ... Movie Critic
Gift Horsing Around - Bonus Balonus
Score Bored - On a Scale of 1-to-10
Jet Set for Take-Off - Har to Har